Mattresses have traditionally been provided with handles on the vertical side panel or "border" material which covers the side of the mattress, between the top and bottom surfaces. Such border handles are most commonly in the form of a rope or elastic cord, with the ends extending through grommets in the border material and knotted or stapled inside the mattress. The assembly of such handles is labor intensive, requiring measurement for grommet placement, operation of a grommet press, and insertion and securement of each end of the handle through the grommet.
More recently, handles made of a strip of fabric have been sewn to the border material. This requires that each end of the handle is secured by a substantial stitch pattern, such as a box with an X stitch pattern inside the box, in order to give the attachment sufficient strength. To sew a multi-dimensional pattern requires that the mattress border, with the handle in place on top of it, be moved in different directions on a platform under the sewing needle. Also, the ends of the handle can be folded under to double the thickness of material and further increase the strength of the handle. This can be done by hand, or by clamping the handle (with the ends folded) against the border and moving the clamped pieces by an automated carriage assembly, by use of an "X-Y" sewing machine. For example, the Mitsubishi PLK series sewing machines are equipped with an X-Y translation carriage mechanism, to which a clamping assembly can be attached, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,520,129 and 5,738,029. The '029 patent describes certain modifications to the stock Mitsubishi carriage assembly to increase the X-direction range of motion of the entire assembly, to position an opposite end of a mattress handle under the sewing head. This requires a large amount of repeated mechanical motion for high speed continuous production. Also, the '029 patent requires that each handle be folded and inserted into a clamp by hand, and that the border material be advanced by hand to position it for attachment of the next handle.
Other machines have been developed which automatically fold material prior to placing it in position on another piece of material for sewing. This is common, for example, in the automated attachment of belt loops, such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,699,907; 4,385,571 and 4,393,800. Although such machines are functional, they do not represent the most efficient and flexible means of mass producing sewn articles, or to produce a specific component in its entirety such as a mattress border.